Florida job creation among strongest in nation

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida continued its strong job-creating streak between over the past year, according to the latest independent report from Florida TaxWatch, a nonpartisan research institute and government watchdog.

After leading the nation in non-farm new jobs last year, Florida added 266,600 new jobs between June 2014 and June 2015.

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"Florida's economy is rebounding from the Great Recession," said Dominic Calabro, TaxWatch president and CEO. "By focusing our resources on investments guaranteed to result in positive returns and grow Florida's economy, our state's leaders are making it easier for Floridians to get a job."

In the last year, non-farm employment has risen by 3.4 percent. Coupled with the increased number of new jobs is a steadily falling unemployment rate in the Sunshine State.

While all of Florida's Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) experienced positive growth in the last year, some areas are standing out in the nation as a whole. The Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford area ranked third in the nation for largest over-the-year percentage increase in employment at 4.3 percent, and the Sebring, Florida area was second in the nation for year-to-year percentage gain in employment at 6.1 percent. Also experiencing high employment percentage gains, topping 3.5 percent are the Ocala and Naples areas.

"The future looks bright for Florida," said Steve Petty, chief economist at Florida TaxWatch. "Six Florida cities are expected to be the nation's leading job creators in the nation over the next several years. Florida is experiencing a healthy, steady job growth rate -- not slow, but not unsustainably fast -- that will position the state to enjoy continued economic growth through the rest of this year." 


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